We Used To Be Friends
by Asylum94
Summary: Veronica is being stalked by a creepy classmate.
1. We Used To Be Friends

**A/N: I own none of the characters except Mavis, the damn creeper.**

**Told from Veronica's POV. Please review :)**

"Bye Dad," I said with a smile.

"Good-bye Veronica," he kissed my forehead and trotted out the door. As the sheriff of our small town, it was his duty to lead manhunts. But this one was different. Dad would have been hunting this man even if he wasn't sheriff.

It's been hard on Dad since Mom left, raising me on his own, trying to play the role of both mother and father. A high school girl needs a mother, he would say, but I don't need her. She abandoned us without warning, and all she left me was a head full of empty memories and note saying that it was better this way. If Mom didn't want to continue raising the child she claimed she loved for seventeen years, then she's right, it is better that she left. It may sound like I'm hiding my grief by hating her, but I don't hate her, and I don't need her.

From the small kitchen window, I watched Dad as he got in his car, backed out of the driveway, and waved back to me before his jerky car sped off. A wave of loneliness flooded over me, here inside my quiet two bedroom home. I had never been afraid of being alone before. I had never been afraid of the dark or the boogie man under my bed. I suppose I've never had a reason to fear these things.

Now I have a reason.

That reason's name is Mavis. I became friends with him when he moved here a few months ago. The first time I saw him, he was sitting at a lunch table, under a red and white umbrella, eating alone. My boyfriend, Logan, didn't understand why I had to go sit with him. Logan joked that Mavis was creepy and resembled a blond Severus Snape. But watching him eat alone, looking around at the other high school students who were laughing and conversing, my heart went out for him.

I should have listened to Logan.

I sat with him a few days a week at lunch, but I knew he would never fit in with my friends. He was odd, telling me about his gun collection and how he loved watching war movies. He was obsessed with the Civil War, he told me, which was a bit unnerving, but I never dreamed he could be dangerous.

Until he tried to kiss me.

When he became comfortable enough around me, he had invited me to his home to 'check out his gun collection'. Surprisingly, it was enjoyable to see; he had collected many different antiques and he kept them in pristine condition. He led me into the forest behind his house, telling me he had something more to show me. He said I would love it, to come into the woods with him and see the gift he had for me. He exuded innocent, childish excitement, so I willingly followed him.

It was a mistake. The friendship that I thought we had built was more to him. It was a secret romance in his mind. The 'gift' that he had for me was a small abandoned cabin that was set deep in the forest, in a place where no one would stumble upon us, where we could be together. His delusions struck me dumb; for a moment I couldn't say a word. He used that moment to try to kiss me.

He didn't show up for school the next day. In fact, he was absent from school that entire week. When he came back, I got nervous, but I didn't tell Logan what happened because I pitied Mavis; I thought that maybe I had led him on in some way. At lunch, I would feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and turn to see him glaring at Logan and me. That glare is still so clear in my memory; I've never seen a look like that. Thinking back on it now, alone in my two bedroom apartment, it sent shivers down my spine.

I started receiving things from a "secret admirer" a few days after he came back. At first it was no big deal. I would get roses in my locker that I knew Logan didn't leave for me. I would get love poem under my chair in class. But I began getting scared when I received rose petals cut up in the mailbox of my apartment. That's when I told Logan what was going on, but I didn't feel like it was enough to tell my dad or a counselor, and I had no proof that Mavis was leaving me these things.

It only escalated from there, to the point where I would receive a new "gift" in my locker everyday, then, twice a day. My nerves were on edge, but still I had really nothing to report to my father. Then it got worse.

I found the old fashioned envelope in my mailbox exactly six days ago. It was heavy and there was no address, so I knew it was hand delivered. In the corner where a return address would have been lay a single fingerprint left in blood. When I ripped it open, bullets fell to the floor, clanging on my kitchen tile. My heart practically skipped a beat. I also pulled out a poem, written in bad cursive, about a high school boy who had a crush on a girl, but he was in distress because this girl had a boyfriend. The poem ended after the boy killed the object of his desire.

Dad has had me on lockdown since then. He told the police to bring Mavis in, but he had disappeared. He lived alone, and when the police got to his house, everything was deserted. I know I should feel safer because he's gone, but I don't. I feel like he's still here. I feel like he knows what I'm doing and where I am, like he's watching me. All week, upon opening my locker, just for a second, I expect to see the same cut up rose petals I found that day in my mailbox.

Logan has been even more protective than my dad. When he found out about the roses and the love letters, he wouldn't leave my side at school. But that was nothing compared to the threats he was making to the elusive Mavis when I received the bullets. He was the only one, besides my father, who read that violent poem. He vowed that he would never let Mavis near me again.

So I suppose the fear bubbling up in my stomach of being alone while dad ventured out to catch my stalker was legitimate. He was only a phone call away, he said, but that didn't evaporate my fear.

I went into my room to change out of my jeans. My plan was to watch my favorite movie, The Breakfast Club, to take my mind off of everything. I opened the draw that housed my favorite pair of pajama pants, and my heart dropped into my stomach. Lying there atop my heavy black pajamas was an envelope addressed: VERONICA.

I froze. There was the same blood stained return address in the upper right corner of the envelope that had petrified me when I received the bullets. With a trembling hand, I picked up the envelope, but all I could do was stare at it. How did this get into me house, into my room? Mavis must have been in here himself.

Suddenly every nerve in my body was on edge. I felt a tingling on the back of my neck, as if I was being watched from outside my window. My breathing became short and tears sprung into my eyes. Backing into a corner, I tore open the envelope and read the old fashioned, crisp paper:

_Dearest Veronica,_

_I came to visit you today but you weren't here. I'm so sorry I missed you, Veronica. We could have spent all day together in your adorable little room, talking and laughing just like we used to. You could have gotten to know me better, like I know you._

_I really loved your bed, Veronica. When I walked into your room, I didn't want to disturb all of your pretty things, but your bed just looked so inviting. I laid in it and almost fell asleep! I could have taken a nap, but I didn't want you to come home and find me here._

He was in my room. Mavis was laying in my bed. It was so hard to picture him with his shoulder length, greasy blond hair and long skinny limbs lying in my bed. I looked up at my neatly folded blankets and perfectly arranged pillows and never wanted to sleep there again.

I struggled to my feet, rushed to the window, and pulled the lock shut, not thinking about the fact that my room is on the second floor. I sprinted to the front door and dead bolted it shut. My breathing was heavy and uneven, and my heart was pounding so hard that I was surprised it remained inside my chest. I sank once more to the floor by the door, suddenly terrified of any window to the outside world. Glancing down, I realized that I still had the note clutched in my hand. Trembling, with beads of sweat trickling down my forehead, I read:

_I really wish you were here Veronica. I've been waiting to talk to you ever since I left school. I didn't want to just get up and leave you especially because I know that you are stuck here, just like I was. But I was miserable, and I couldn't stand by and let those cretins at school torture me anymore. But don't worry, Ill be back for you. I'm going to rescue you from that jerk Logan. I know he's keeping you here against your will, Veronica. Don't worry; I'll be back for you soon._

_With Love from Our Place in the Forest,_

_Mavis_

Before I knew it, I was on my way to Logan's house. I had called him as soon as I finished reading the letter, and I don't even remember our conversation because it was tainted with terror. I'm sure he told me to stay in my house and that he would be there in a second to help me, but I couldn't stay there. I didn't feel like my home without my father, without my mother, without Logan. It had been cursed with the shadow of Mavis's visit, of his delusion. He thought that I _wanted_ him to rescue me. I couldn't stay there, so my car was now speeding towards Logan's mansion.

I needed Logan now. The darkness outside my car was overpowering my mind; I was seeing things between the trees that couldn't really exist. As I drove, my heart would flutter unnaturally and my breathing would suddenly come in cold spurts into my lungs. Mavis was poisoning my brain.

I pulled into the long driveway, complete with wrought iron gates that seemed to open of their own accord as my car got closer. I drove to the very end of the winding black river until I came to the pool house where he said he'd meet me. Logan's pool house was no ordinary shed, housing moldy pool floats and that smelled of chlorine. It was more like his own personal bachelor pad, complete with a plasma television, a stereo system, and a double bed with silk sheets. I can't even count the nights we've spent here together while his dad was out on business trips; it felt a lot more like home than my empty apartment at the moment.

I pulled up the to the pool house, silhouetted against the black forest behind it. As I got out of the car, I caught a glimpse of his slender figure leaning against the doorframe. He flashed a worried smile in my direction, and the tension in my chest loosened just a bit. As I got closer, his smile got wider. He jogged to my side and wound his arms around my waist in a protective embrace. The tighter he held me, the larger the lump in my throat became.

"Breathe, Veronica" he said. I tend to forget to do that when I'm upset. I let out an exasperated breath. "I know you're freaked out, but I promise you're safe here."

"I know I am," I whispered and kissed him lightly on the lips. I turned away, but he caught my face in his hands and kissed me again. And again. And again.

"I just received a letter from my potentially dangerous and violent stalker, but my heart hasn't raced like that all night." I smiled up at him. He was significantly taller than me.

"I better not do that to you again then," he replied with a teasing smile "your under a lot of stress. I wouldn't want to push your heart over the edge." He held my hands and led me into the pool house.

"Yeah your right, I don't know if I can take all this love from you." I replied sarcastically. "It may be too much! So then, what should we do all night, play video games?" I picked up one if the many controllers by the T.V. and hit random buttons. Logan laughed at me like I was a child. "I can totally kick you ass at-!"

I didn't get to finish my taunting, because Logan tackled me playfully onto the bed. The controller fell forgotten to the floor. "I have a better idea," he said, "why don't I teach you some of Logan's famous 'get out of trouble' moves, so that if, by some crazy alignment of the planets this psycho ever gets his grubby hands on you, you'll be able to kick his ass."

"Like I couldn't already," I laughed.

"Oh, you think you're tough? Well then what would you do if he brought your hands above your head like this," Logan grabbed my wrists and pinned my hands above my head, "and forced you down with one leg on each side of your hips?" He straddled me as he described.

"Easy. I would bring my knee up and hit him where it hurts."

"And what if he flipped you on your stomach," he flipped me over, "and pinned you down." He pressed his entire body on top of mine. "What would you do then?" He whispered into my ear.

"I…I would…" I breathed.

The phone rang in the main house. Saved by the bell, I thought. Logan groaned.

"I have to get that, it might be my dad." He said as he clamored off me. "You going to be alright here?"

"Sure. Just…lock the door?" I said as I attempted to convince myself that I would be fine for a few minuets alone in this dark pool house.

"Of course." We kissed until he was out the door, and I stood and watched through the glass as he locked the door from the outside, and then disappeared into the darkness.


	2. We Used To Be Friends Part II

**A/N: Told from Logan's perspective (changed from ch 1)**

As I jogged up the grey concrete steps to the main house to answer the phone, my mind was still back in the pool house with Veronica. Why did the psycho kid have to antagonize her?

Well, that wasn't a difficult question.

Veronica is beautiful, mysterious, intelligent, and she finds the best in people. She found the best in me even when I couldn't see it in myself.

My keys dangled from the lock. I pushed the heavy front door open and picked up the old fashioned phone.

"Hello?" I said into the receiver. No answer.

"Hello? Echoll's residence, Logan, the real man of the house speaking." If it was one of my dad's colleagues, I had no problems with being a smart ass. But there was still silence greeting me from the other end.

I whirled around, suddenly fearful. There was no way Mavis could have gotten to Veronic; I had locked the door. But that silent phone call was suspicious. If someone wanted to get in touch with me, they would have dialed my cell. I slammed the phone on the receiver and rushed back to the pool house.

"Veronica?" I called. At first glance I couldn't find her, and terror gripped my throat. "Veronica, where-? Her silhouette was illuminated at the giant glass window, looking out into the forest. I was so relieved to see her tiny, petite figure that I wanted to scoop her up and devour her in my arms. But when she turned around to face me, that damn hand of terror squeezed my throat again.

"Veronica, what's the matter?" It came out in a whisper.

"I have to leave." She cut me off. Her voice was strained. As she came slowly closer to me, I could see tears leaking from her beautiful blue eyes. "I'm sorry Logan, but we can't see each other anymore. I have to leave and I'm not coming back."

I felt my jaw drop but there was nothing I could do to wipe the awestricken look from my face. It was as if my mind was I slow motion, not able to process the meaning of the words she was saying.

My eyes dropped to my feet and I could only babble out half formulated questions. "What…Wh-Why?" I choked out.

"Because," she said in a monotone, "I _have_ to go." She annunciated every word. I could only gape at her.

She glanced fearfully out the window, then, suddenly, she ran over to me and grabbed my hands. "Logan, do you remember what I told you that night on the bridge?"

"I…" My mind was so fuzzy.

"Do you remember the promise I made to you? Logan?"

I stared at her blankly. Of course I remembered that promise. "I could never forget." I muttered. She told me that no matter what, she would always be honest with me. She would never tell me a lie, not even if she thought it was better for me.

She backed away towards the door, no longer worked up but rather stoic. "I can't see you anymore. I have to leave. I don't want you to come after me. I don't want you to get hurt. I'm sorry."

And then she was gone.

I stood rooted to the spot, struck dumb, staring after her. I was unable to comprehend what had just happened. It was so quiet, not even the voices in my head said a word. I was completely numb.

I sat down on my powder blue satin sheets and caught a glimpse of the pillows out of the corner of my eye. My mind's eye conjured a shadow of Veronica in her night clothes, so adorable and blond, challenging me to a pillow fight. She had spent so many nights with me here; I thought I knew her better than she knew herself. Until tonight.

I couldn't believe how a five-minuet conversation could shatter my whole world.

Everything was changed. She changed. She was gone. Tears began too ooze into my eyes as questions sprang into my mind. Why did she leave? How could she possibly be in love with me one moment and want to leave me the next?

I replayed what just happened over and over in my head. I gazed, unseeing, into the black forest just outside the window. She'd said she needed to leave me.

She never said she wanted to.

She _had _to go. She didn't want to go. She didn't want me to come looking for her, but only because she didn't want me to get hurt. What if she wasn't going to be the one hurting me?

I jumped up from the bed, adrenaline rushing through my veins. Maybe this was crazy, or maybe she was trying to tell me something. She promised she would never lie to me. What if she'd just been keeping her promise?

I frantically started pacing. My eyes raked the room, not sure what I was searching for until I found it: a muddy footprint just below the window.


	3. We Used To Be Friends Part III

**A/N: Back to Veronica's POV**

I jolted awake, startled by a deep banging somewhere in the distance. My head was pounding and blood rushed in my ears. I tried to open my eyes but they were swollen and my vision was blurred. I felt the cold cement of the floor pressing against my cheek. I tried to lift my head, but every muscle screamed in protest. I listened for a while, but heard nothing apart from the banging in the distance.

Upon opening my eyes, I deduced that the banging was actually my head pounding. I managed to stand up and examine my surroundings. I was confined to a grey room with a grey bed in the corner. Of course, I thought, I couldn't have woken up on that. There was a heavy grey door locking me inside this prison.

I got up and stumbled to the door. I banged on it, screaming, crying, hoping that anyone would hear me, but it was useless and I knew that. Sobbing, I fell to the floor. There was nothing left to do but wait: for death, for rescue, for Mavis to return. I don't know how long I sat there and cried, it could have been seconds, it could have been hours.

After what seemed like a lifetime, I heard a car door slam outside. The salty tears in my distressed eyes dissolved immediately. My heart pounded out of my chest, and I hammered the door harder than ever.

"Logan!" I screamed, praying that it was him and not Mavis. "Logan, help! I'm in here!"

A muffled voice called back. "Veronica?" As Logan's deep voice reached my ears, a wave of relief flooded my body.

"Logan," I said, relief saturating my voice. "Oh, I can't believe you're here."

"I'm here V, where's the key? The door won't open!" He jiggled the handle from the other side.

"There's got to be a key. Just…Do you see any plants or a doormat or anything? Any place where he could hide a key?"

Logan barked out a frustrated laugh. "He doesn't strike me as the decorative type, Veronica." His muffled voice sounded uneasy. "Wait…I think I found it!"

I heard the gentle groan of floorboards and the key jiggling in the lock. The next thing I knew, I was back in Logan's strong embrace, a place where I never though I would be again.

"Logan I'm sorry! I didn't mean any of the things I said to you in the pool house, he made me say it so you wouldn't come looking for me, but I kept my promise, I didn't lie. I didn't think you would figure it out, it was such a futile attempt at telling you what was going on, trying to make you understand, he was forcing me-"

"Veronica, I know, I know. It's okay." He crooned in my ear. "You're a damn good actress, Veronica, because I nearly believed you," he took a deep breath. I could tell there was a lump constricting his throat. "But he left a footprint on the floor, and I put it together." He kept his arms locked around me as if he was afraid that if he let go, I would crush his heart and disappear again.

I looked up at him. His eyes were glistening as he kissed me softly.

"Come on, let's get out of here before Mavis comes back." Logan gripped my hand gently and led me outside. I felt so safe in his presence, as if a glowing shield was protecting him and now it was guarding me, too. We were out of the warehouse where Mavis imprisoned me and halfway to Logan's car, when all at once, everything changed.

I heard an earsplitting smack as Mavis ran out of the shadows and struck Logan against the head with a wooden baseball bat. An involuntary scream escaped me as Logan hit the ground, and stayed facedown on the black road. His warm shield dissolved around me, and I was terrified.

I ran to Logan's unconscious body, but Mavis caught me around the middle before I could reach him and threw me back onto the ground. My head ricocheted off the solid road. Reeling, I tried to get up but everything was spinning. Although I tired to run, it didn't take much for Mavis to push me back down. Through the blur of tears I saw the silhouette of Mavis, bat raised, etched against the stars. I squeezed my eyes shut, and Logan's face swam into my vision. I prepared myself for the blow, for the crack of my ribs or the split of my skull.

But instead of pain, I felt the pressure of a warm body on top of mine; the same body that playfully teased me back in the pool house, now protecting me from the agony. I opened my eyes in time to see Mavis strike Logan's back with the bat. I screamed as if it had connected with me, although Logan took the full force of the blow.

I looked over at his face next to mine as he took the second hit for me. As the bat connected with his back, his eyes screwed up in pain, but he let out not even a groan of agony. The third blow came and still Logan didn't scream. I was frozen with fear underneath him. The fourth, and I couldn't believe he was being so strong. He buried his head in my shoulder, tears saturating my sweatshirt. It seemed like forever ago that we were kissing in his pool house.

Mavis roughly threw down the bat. I let out a sharp breath of relief, mingled with a sob. I didn't realize that my cheeks were drenched with salty tears. I wanted to run, to take this moment of relief from the beating and take Logan and escape. But Logan lie still and heavy on top of me; there was nothing I could do. I closed my eyes and prayed for a miracle.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Mavis silhouetted against the stars once more. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver blade. It glinted ominously as it caught the light of the moon. He raised it above his head, and in a second I realized what that sliver blade was going to do.

"Logan," I whispered. He looked back, but he stayed where he was, on top of me, acting as my shield. As the blade came down, all I could do was shut my eyes and suck in a painful breath.

A deafening bang was the next thing to come. Screaming, I opened my eyes and saw Mavis staggering back, blood rushing from his chest, and my father aiming a gun.


End file.
